By WAI MOE
Monday, February 4, 2008
Debate over the need for Burma’s government-in-exile to reform has become louder, as elected leaders living in exile prepare to meet for a conference of the Members of Parliament Union (MPU), scheduled to be held soon on the Thai-Burma border.
San Aung, of the Washington-based National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), told The Irrawaddy that some exiled politicians want the exiled government to reform, and especially to include more ethnic leaders.
The issue of NCGUB reform has come up repeatedly over the past year. Last December, delegates of the National Coalition of the Union of Burma (NCUB), an umbrella organization of exiled politicians and leaders of ethnic groups based in Thailand, met in the US to discuss the need for reforms with members of the NCGUB.
“The NCGUB and NCUB met [in Thailand] last March, and at the time, the NCUB raised the issue of reform and expansion of the exiled government. We agreed to form a commission to investigate how to improve the exile movement,” said San Aung.
The meeting between the NCGUB and the NCUB raised a number of issues for consideration, including the need for unity among exiled politicians. They also agreed that politicians operating outside of Burma should ensure that democracy forces inside the country do not object to their work. They also discussed the advantages of reforming the exiled government, according to San Aung.
Nyo Ohn Myint, head of the foreign affairs office of the National League for Democracy (Liberated Area), confirmed that reform of the NCGUB might be on agenda of the upcoming MPU conference. During the meeting, which will bring together parliamentary representatives elected in 1990, leaders will also discuss how to strengthen overseas political activism through reform of the exiled government.
“Some think the NCGUB reform is needed because it is like a ceremonial group,” said Nyo Ohn Myint. “When the NCGUB was founded, they agreed to include ethnic leaders in the future. So some exiled politicians suggested the group encourage more ethnic participation.”
Tint Swe, an elected official traveling to Thailand from India for the meeting on the Thai-Burma border, called the MPU “like a congress of the exiled government”, and said debate over reform of the NCGUB would be on the agenda. “But whether there are calls for reform or expansion, the important thing is to create more unity among exile groups,” he added. He also rejected criticism of the NCGUB’s role as a lobby group, insisting that they were making “self sacrifices”.
Calls for reform of the exiled government have intensified recently, led by the online Burma Digest, which said in an editorial, “Burma [needs] an all-inclusive government-in-exile to give support to the exile community, to develop a broad-based consensus on the way forward, to adapt to the times and work tirelessly in pursuit of the main goal—liberation from tyranny.”
Some exiled politicians have suggested that Maung Maung, secretary-general of the NCUB, was behind the push to force the exiled government to include more non-elected members, as he was leading the Thailand-based group when it held talks with the NCGUB in the US late last year. He was not available for comment when The Irrawaddy called to contact him.
The NCGUB is led by Sein Win, cousin of Aung San Suu Kyi, and consists entirely of members of parliament elected in Burma’s last general elections in 1990. However, it currently has only five members. Critics say that the exiled government has done little to promote a stronger democracy movement in exile, and expect a reformed government-in-exile will have a similarly limited impact.
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